Innovative Use of Taking WASH in Schools to Scale in Vanuatu

SUMMARY Social media has become a surprisingly useful and effective tool in advancing Vanuatu’s national WASH in Schools (WinS) program. In late 2019, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) created the WASH in Schools Vanuatu - WOSH insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu Facebook group as a tool for schools to showcase their WASH activities. With increasing access to low-cost or free Facebook data and internet coverage in Vanuatu, the WinS Vanuatu Facebook group has since evolved into a tool of diverse applications including contractor monitoring, announcements, knowledge sharing, program feedback, reporting, emergency response assessments, program monitoring and general WinS related communications. It has been transformational in scaling-up WASH in schools in Vanuatu where a pilot project in Penama province with 78 schools and 120 ECCE centres resulted in a 104% increase in average three-star indicator1 ratings from 2019 to 2020.

Background found that 63% had access to basic water, 26% had basic , and 27% with basic Vanuatu, the most at-risk country in the world to facilities, as per the UNICEF/WHO Joint natural disasters2, is a lower-middle income Monitoring Project (JMP) indicators for WASH in country located 2,500 kilometers east of Australia Schools3. in the Pacific Ocean. The 280,000 residents and 590 schools are spread over 66 inhabited volcanic In response to a WASH in Schools Call to Action and raised coral islands. in 20164, Vanuatu’s National WASH in Schools (WinS) Program officially commenced in mid- While data on school WASH performance in 2017. Predominantly funded by New Zealand’s Vanuatu is limited, a 2015 nationwide assessment Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) the of primary school facilities revealed that 0% of program is being implemented by Ministry of toilets were disability accessible, 41% of toilets Education and Training (MoET) with technical were shared by boys and girls, and only 28% of support from UNICEF in partnership with other toilets were in an acceptable condition. A 2017 affiliated government departments. The program baseline study of Penama province’s 78 schools was initiated with the intent to generate national-

1 UNICEF and GIZ, 2013 2 The World Risk Report, 2020 3 WHO and UNICEF, 2020 4 Ministry of Education and Training, Government of Vanuatu, 2016

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level political prioritization for WinS, while Figure 1: WinS Vanuatu Facebook group developing an appropriate WinS improvement homepage framework with an initial pilot in Penama province. The 2019 – 2029 National WinS Strategy builds on and adapts a global “three-star approach”5 to the Vanuatu context. The strategy aims to support at least 80% of all Vanuatu schools to reach and retain a minimum two-star performance rating6, as measured using the MoET-defined and contextualized three-star indicators.

Given the geographic remoteness of Vanuatu’s islands, communication among national, provincial and school level actors was identified Source: WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH early in the program as a major bottleneck in insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu, 2020 progressing the desired deliverables. Field visits, even just from a provincial capital to a large school in the same province can require use of Table 1: Rapid increase in social multiple modes of travel (plane, truck, boat and media use in Vanuatu hike), making routine visits very expensive and time consuming. Indicator 20177 20208 Vanuatu, like many other countries, continues to see an increase in mobile phone access and Number of active 44,000 95,000 social media use (see Table 1). Using this as an social media users (and % of total innovative opportunity to address major (16%) (31%) population) communication challenges, in October 2019, the UNICEF funded MoET National WinS Coordinator Number of active created a WASH in Schools Vanuatu Facebook Facebook users 44,000 92,000 group as a means for schools to showcase their (and % of total (16%) (30%) population) (GHWD) celebrations. % social media users accessing via No data 98% mobile phone

Number of mobile 236,000 349,900 phone subscriptions

A WinS Events Guide was distributed in advance, coupled with other WinS programming and awareness Information, education and communication (IEC) materials and activities, to encourage schools to perform WASH promotion

5 UNICEF and GIZ, 2013 province of Penama which saw an increase in average three- 6 While routine national-wide three-star WinS data collection is star scores from 0.9 in 2019 to 1.83 in 2020. being arranged, the only available data is from the pilot 7 Hootsuite & We Are Social, 2017 8 Hootsuite & We Are Social, 2020

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activities at their schools and share through the WinS Vanuatu Facebook group. Schools were KEY POINTS encouraged to run activities on any day, though Access to smartphones and social media particularly on globally recognized WASH days, has increased significantly in recent years such as: in Vanuatu Facebook provides an open platform to • World Water Day (22 March) promote and monitor real-time school • (28 May) WASH activities • Global Handwashing Day (15 October) and Public access enables transparency and • (19 November). triangulation of monitoring information Schools take ownership and pride in After receiving impressive activity posts from showcasing their WASH improvements target schools (see Figure 2, as an example),

MoET realized the potential of Facebook to be used as a tool for school performance updates, contractor monitoring, event planning, announcements, knowledge sharing, emergency Figure 2: World Water Day celebrations response, and general WASH-related communications. By November 2020 the WinS Vanuatu Facebook group had grown to have over 300 members, most being school principals (including nearly all 78 Penama province school principals), teachers and provincial MoET staff.

The WASH in Schools Vanuatu Facebook Group

Expansion

Without any prompting from UNICEF or MoET national officers the Facebook group naturally expanded to share information on school WASH performance, supplies movements (both WinS and general education related), impact of natural disasters and contractor deliverables. It also became a key portal for connecting donors to funded activities and beneficiaries. Source: WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu, 2020 Monitoring WinS supplies To support school WinS performance improvements the National WinS Program has involved distribution of handwashing buckets, soap, water filters, water bottles and menstrual

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hygiene materials to target schools. The WinS and 47% of ECCE (early childhood care and Vanuatu Facebook group proved a valuable tool education) centres in these three provinces were in tracking WinS supply distributions and severely damaged. Phone and internet coverage confirmation of receipt, especially in remote, hard was one of the first services restored in most to reach locations. This monitoring approach is locations, providing an opportunity for affected becoming particularly useful given the scale-up of schools to report on WASH and other damages WinS activities in Vanuatu, the limited capacity via the WinS Vanuatu Facebook group and prior available to monitor distributions and related WinS to the arrival of rapid assessment teams (school activities, and COVID-19 related travel rapid assessment teams arrived over 1 month restrictions. Photos showing when supplies later as schools were already closed at the time of arrived on an island even helped alert schools to the cyclone due to COVID-19 preparations). prepare to pick them up. MoET was then able to expedite support to schools in affected areas using Facebook and Facebook Messenger to gather, verify and Figure 3: Supplies monitoring confirm information while attending to school needs.

Figure 4: Emergency response assessments

Source: WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu, 2020

Emergency response Source: WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH Category 5 TC Harold swept through Samna, insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu, 2020 Malampa and Penama provinces in early April Contractor monitoring 2020 causing widespread destruction to the MoET have begun using the WinS Vanuatu provinces of Sanma, Malampa and Penama Facebook group as a monitoring tool for provinces. Forty three percent (43%) of schools contractors performing WinS-related activities.

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Contractors are mandated to post specific broader WinS sub-sector. Now key WinS activities or outputs on the Facebook group page information can be shared easily and widely with as part of their contractually required deliverables. target stakeholders by any participating The approach enables triangulation of monitoring stakeholder. The tool has been used to update activities, whereby stakeholders of all levels are school stakeholders on: informed real-time of ongoing activities. • COVID-19 key messages, plans and protocol This approach enables schools to play a key role • Upcoming events, such as WinS workshops or in holding contractors accountable to deliver their global WASH days mandated scope of work. Rather than contractor • Shipments of WinS supplies and materials reports going directly to only MoET at national • WinS 3-star performance progress level, this way all Facebook group members are • Winners of WinS competitions, such as world enabled to see, verify and learn from what’s WASH day activity competitions happening – a far more transparent system inherently aimed at knowledge sharing and WinS performance monitoring and capacity building. advocacy Schools have taken the lead in showcasing progress in improving their WinS performance, as Figure 5: Monitoring infrastructure measured using MoET’s WinS 3-star indicators. installations Whilst school Facebook posts can be used to verify 3-star data for respective schools, it also serves as a motivator for social change and basis for comparison with other schools. All information is made public, rather than being directed solely to provincial officers in the form of a progress report, or not shared at all due to a lack of incentive and enabling environment. This way a healthy competition is developed whereby schools are enabled to “show off” what they are doing, and other schools can learn, compare and be inspired to improve their own situation. As the Penama Provincial ECCE Coordinator stated, “while seeing developments in different ECCE, others learn and grow also…pictures talk louder than words!”

Source: WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu, 2020 Announcements and knowledge sharing The WinS Vanuatu Facebook group has significantly strengthened ties between school, provincial and national level in the education and

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Figure 6: WinS performance announcement Table 2: Why social media to monitor WinS?

Conventional Social media as a monitoring tools monitoring tool

1-directional (school to Multi-directional (all provincial to national level) stakeholders informed)

Written reports and data Pictorial reports

Time lag Real time

Triangulation from multiple Single verification source sources

Internal and private Transparent and public

Advocacy tool stimulating Informational only competition and change

Single recipient Multiple recipients

Source: WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH Narrow reach Wide reach insaet long ol Skul Vanuatu, 2020 One-off Ongoing The WinS Vanuatu Facebook group post excerpt in Figure 6, for example, displays the progressive National ownership School level ownership three-star WinS performance of Penama’s three islands, Pentecost, Maewo and Ambae. The post celebrates and recognizes the first four schools in Penama (on Ambae) that reached two stars in Discussions early 2020 (shown in green). Other WASH knowledge management tools Donor liaison There are many other knowledge management The WinS Vanuatu Facebook group has become tools used by WASH groups throughout the world, the primary location where donors and other key such as field visits, workshops, conferences, national level stakeholders are directed to view trainings, websites and email groups9. Global the status of the National WinS Program. websites such as Rural Water Supply Network Excerpts from the page are pasted into donor (RWSN) and Sustainable Sanitation Alliance reports, such that schools are increasingly (SuSanA) have long been online resources contributing to the delivery of the program and accessible to all with an internet connection. In capacity to leverage funding for scaling-up WinS. remote locations where travel is expensive and locations with Coronavirus related travel As the WinS Vanuatu Facebook group is public, restrictions, these virtual knowledge exchange other Pacific countries have been made aware of options are becoming more important. In 2020, the group to learn how MoET is using this IT- many WASH global learning events such as based innovative approach to mobilize Stockholm World Water Week and UNC Water understanding and support to scale-up WinS in and Health conference moved online, enabling Vanuatu. more people to attend. However, time zones,

9 World Bank Group, 2015

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language and content often still need to be Some of the main limitations of using social media translated to the local context through country- as a tool to scale-up WinS in Vanuatu are specific activities. In 2017, a Vanuatu WASH tabulated below. Sector Google group10 was created and is used to share contextualized global sectoral knowledge, but is more frequently used to request quotations, Table 3: Limitations of social media as a share emergency situation reports and announce monitoring tool sector meetings. DoWR and MoH also shared Limitation Description items via public pages managed by government communications officers. As well, DoWR have Some social media applications data are also created a Facebook messenger group for often marketed as free and unlimited, Data cost staff and technical assistance that helps with though only with the purchase of a data internal rapid communication. This group posts package several times a day and functions in a way similar While becoming increasingly prevalent, to other social media providers, such as Smartphone there remains a significant proportion of WhatsApp. cost/access the population without a computer, smartphone or tablet Social Media Limitations Whilst the WinS Vanuatu Facebook group has While mobile data coverage has increased significantly in recent years Network been greatly valuable in overcoming geographic (e.g. from 52% in 2017 to 86% in 201812), access and systemic barriers to information exchange there remains several remote rural areas among WinS sector stakeholders, social media is without coverage not a one-size-fits-all tool. While it can be useful Many people are not familiar with social for sharing information, there are drawbacks. In Technical media and its uses; experience shows some cultures, there are increasing concerns competence that time is needed to assist users with about how social media negatively affects society, & confidence joining the group and making their 1st post relationships and interactions and in some cases to get accustomed to the process increases bigotry and possibly violence11. It can While there are many students be educational and motivating for those (particularly secondary) actively using connected and actively using social media. social media, the WinS FB group’s Student activity is almost entirely from staff However, it can exclude others. It is of limited use voices contributions; there are both social and for those without internet connectivity, a technological barriers to overcome to smartphone, cash for data or knowledge of the bring student voices to the group group. In 2020, MoET established an agreement with Vanuatu’s two predominant network Explicit or Social media accounts are often public to providers, Digicel and Vodaphone, to enable other maximize its reach, though as a result unwanted needs to be closely monitored to control schools’ free online access to Vanuatu’s content content Education Management Information System (Open VEMIS). Free access like that might help reduce some of the cost barriers to WASH in Schools monitoring. Conclusions

Social media has been an unexpectedly valuable tool in raising the voices of all school WASH stakeholders in the drive to scale-up WinS in

10 WASH Sector Vanuatu, 2020 12 Telecommunications Radiocommunications and 11 Newport, 2019 Broadcasting Regulator, 2019

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Vanuatu. As stated by Penama’s School Improvement Coordinator, “schools can take information and examples from other colleagues and apply them to their own schools”. With over 300 members (as of November 2020) and only 78 schools and 120 ECCE centres in the pilot province of Penama, the reach is already evident given the posts made to the group page by stakeholders from a variety of locations and levels in the WASH and education sectors.

While there are negatives to social media, the tool may be influential in expediting the nation-wide scale-up of WASH in schools in Vanuatu via the exchange of lessons and experiences, progress monitoring to ensure national standards as per three-star benchmarks are consistently applied and met, mobilization of partners (including private sector), visibility of donors and timely feedback on WinS performance and natural hazard impacts. All these aspects will assist MoET to achieve two-star WinS in over 80% of its schools by 2029, as per the National WinS Strategy. Ultimately, it is hoped that sharing information will ensure access to water, sanitation and hygiene in educational settings and improve the lives of school children in Vanuatu.

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References Photo Credits

Hootsuite & We Are Social. Digital 2020: Vanuatu. All images from the WinS Vanuatu Facebook 2020. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital- group page: 2020-vanuatu https://www.facebook.com/groups/515720685823 Hootsuite & We Are Social. Digital 2017: Vanuatu. 488 2017. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital- 2017-vanuatu

Ministry of Education and Training, Government Acknowledgements of Vanuatu. WASH in Schools: Call to Action. 2016. The authors would like to thank Vanuatu’s MoET https://moet.gov.vu/docs/policies/WASH%20in%2 for supporting the preparation of this note. The 0Schools%20-%20Call%20to%20Action_2016.pdf authors would like to thank Chander Badloe – Chief WASH, UNICEF Pacific and Evariste Newport, Cal. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. 2019. Penguin Kuoassi-Komlan – Regional Adviser WASH at Books Limited. East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, for their review. Telecommunications Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulator. Mobile and Broadband Coverage. 2019. https://www.trbr.vu/en/telecom- industry/universal-access/coverage/mobile-and- About the Authors broadband-coverage This field note was prepared by Jake Ward and UNICEF and GIZ. Field Guide: The Three Star Emily Rand (UNICEF Vanuatu). Approach for WASH in Schools. 2013. https://www.unicef.org/wash/schools/files/UNICEF Suggested citation: Ward J. and Rand, E. (2020) _Field_Guide-3_Star-Guide.pdf Innovative use of social media taking WASH in WASH in Schools Vanuatu – WOSH insaet long schools to scale in Vanuatu. UNICEF: Port Vila. ol Skul Vanuatu. 2020. https://www.facebook.com/groups/515720685823 488

WASH Sector Vanuatu. WASH Sector Vanuatu. 2020. https://groups.google.com/g/wash-sector- vanuatu

WHO and UNICEF. JMP: Schools. 2020. https://washdata.org/monitoring/schools

World Bank Group. The Art of Knowledge Exchange: A Results-Focused Planning Guide for Development Practitioners, Second Edition Updated. 2015. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/h andle/10986/17540/843970WP0art0o0Box038214 0B00PUBLIC0.pdf?sequence=18&isAllowed=y

World Risk Report. World Risk Report 2020 – Focus: Forced Displacement and Migration. 2020. https://weltrisikobericht.de/wp- content/uploads/2020/09/WorldRiskReport- 2020.pdf

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About the Series

UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) country teams work inclusively with governments, civil society partners and donors, to improve WASH services for children and adolescents, and the families and caregivers who support them. UNICEF works in over 100 countries worldwide to improve water and sanitation services, as well as basic hygiene practices. This publication is part of the UNICEF WASH Learning Series, designed to contribute to knowledge of good practice across UNICEF’s WASH programming. In this series:

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© United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) The statements in this publication are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or the views of UNICEF. United Nations Children’s Fund 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA For more information, please contact: [email protected] Document No: WASH/FN/58/2021